More info on growth planning needed

Published
5:29 am CST, Friday, February 24, 2012

To the editor:

So much of what goes on in Montgomery County (that to me seems very important to those residing in our county) goes under-reported or unannounced, while other events that involve fewer segments of our community consume pages of newsprint on a regular basis.

The most recent of these under-reported events was the meeting at the Lone Star Convention Center Feb. 13 (one of 20 held throughout the region) sponsored by the Houston-Galveston Area Council (an activist group) ostensibly to seek input from area residents regarding the affects of future population growth on the resources of our region. While I was unable to attend the meeting (being unaware of its occurrence), the very brief, post-meeting coverage on page two of The Courier seems to indicate a certain degree of consternation expressed by those who were in attendance. The scant coverage indicated that with the exception of Huntsville (which is in Walker County), most residents of Montgomery County are unconcerned about the features of our area that make it distinct from other communities in Southeast Texas.

Having been a resident of the Southeast Texas region for 22 years (11 in Harris County, seven in Galveston County, three in The Woodlands and one in Montgomery) and having experienced very distinctive “quality-of-life” issues in each area, I can honestly say that (in general) residents of Montgomery County enjoy an environment and life quality that is the envy of many residents living elsewhere in Texas. And as a result, I can understand why attendees at the meeting might have a negative reaction to topics that appear to hint or question whether the current quality of life we enjoy is sustainable in light of predicted population growth.

And while it is necessary to plan ahead for potential growth and the demands such growth entails (both in services and infrastructure), abdicating planning to non-elected representatives of activist groups who seem to have already formulated an agenda based on a specific ideology undermines all the best plans and future hopes for our local community. We have only to consider this summer’s drought, and the disparity with which water restrictions were demanded in Montgomery County, while Houston drained Lake Conroe with impunity.

Another example of Houston using its muscle to its advantage, occurred less than 20 years ago, when the city forcibly annexed Kingwood (which was experiencing its own population boom at the time). Kingwood was much like The Woodlands (as a master-planned community), but despite the objections of the majority of residents, Houston won the battle, and residents had no choice but to move, or stay and pay higher property taxes for reduced city services.

Projections of future growth are just that. And residents need to be wary of those unelected urban planners who do not necessarily have our community’s best interest at heart. We need to hear more of such matters from our elected representatives, preferably with details provided in the pages of The Courier.

Pam Cater

Montgomery

Declaration of war on women

To the editor:

Aha! I think I’ve finally figured out why Jim Doyle, Blake Brown and all the other neocons so religiously defend their Second Amendment rights to buy all the AK47s, M-16s and bazookas they can get their hands on. It wasn’t because they were afraid of the vicious, man-killing quail, deer and elk at all.

It’s their declaration of war against women. First, they deny insurance for birth control, then they stomp all over women’s right to abortion by forcing them to endure the embarrassment of intrusive ultrasound invasion.

Then, they laugh and say, “It’s their fault for getting pregnant.” Hello? If you hadn’t made it so difficult to get birth control pills, they wouldn’t have gotten pregnant in the first place.

And then they cackle and say that the best birth control is an aspirin, held firmly between the knees.

That insensitive joke wasn’t funny 50 years ago and it isn’t funny now.

With all these attacks on women, these over-50 dictatorial white guys are gonna need all the guns they can get for protection.